I am going to expand this brief information of my research paper as soon as possible, but I want to write it down now for any comments from you and I’d really appreciate any feedbacks. I have lots of distractions (that I have nothing to do with it) nowadays and i am looking for a little gap to write it for a while, now I’m going to do it quickly and come back for further writings.

RESEARCH QUESTION

What is the position of a designer in society, to effect the cultural environment and enrich the social values?

Introduction for my research area

The well-known American graphic designer Milton Glaser often says “Good design is good citizenship.” This statement brings the question “What is good design?” firstly. Does form and aesthetic perfection make design ‘good’, or is it faultless conception and intelligent usability?

Nevertheless, one can be a great successful designer without necessarily being a ‘good citizen’. But good design has the power of adding value to society, effecting the cultural envelope directly. So it can be said that, design and citizenship must go hand in hand. With the term ‘citizenship’, Milton Glaser aim at ethics, morality and social conscience.

Thinking of design for corporations, what is the responsibility of a designer if design is innocent but the client is tainted? Being amenable to some moral standard is the key. According to a big amount of theorists, designers, artists etc; a designer should be professionally, socially and culturally responsible for the impact of his/her design on the citizenry.

The certain truth is; beauty makes people feel good and satisfy their senses. Being around something that is beautiful encourages people emotionally, sensually and intellectually. This situation can be defined as a ‘multimedia experience’. During our educations of communication and design, we have learned how to criticize form and create good ones. Filling the base is the hardest part, because sometimes it can be too personal to be taught in school. When aesthetics serve a certain thing, beauty gets clear of being luxurous or insignificant.

As beauty has such power on people, what is the position of a designer in society, to effect the cultural environment and enrich the social values? When issues like morality, ethic and responsibility are taken into account, the first issues to be considered are corporate design, consumerist society (global economy as well), graphic design’s social content as a form of social production, ethical and social responsibilities, and the power of graphic design.

Some problematics that I want to exchange ideas with you

For you who have read the First Things First Manifesto, do you think that it is an idealism that is impossible and impractical to live up to on an everyday scale?

Is it a good thing to seperate our work from the social context in which it is received and from the purpose it serves?

Is it possible to earn a good living by working for companies that are not obviously out to poison the world (although they may have their tacky sides), and at the same time work with those whose critical view on the bigger picture you share, as Max Bruinsma mentions in his article Culture Agents?

How can a graphic designer be a part of the public debate? What is the most appropriate and powerful medium, audience, environment, abilities etc.?

How did “mass design production” (technology, softwares) affect the ethical values of the graphic designer?

A very ambitious research question that covers a very wide area, you might need to focus down even more as 2,000 words isn’t enough, especially the things you mentioned in your “introduction for my research area”, that’s an essay in itself! Is this already in your essay or was that to give us some context?

I am aware that I’m not being very helpful sorry, but there are so many questions that you want to consider, maybe this research area is something the major project would tackle (although I know you already have a topic). If you could narrow it down to a key area of focus, some questions that invokes investigation and debate, then we can help with examples and our opinion etc.

I have no doubt, from the way you write, that your essay will be a brilliant read. Concentrate on finding case studies to support your claims, unfortunately my brain is maxed out and can’t think of any at the moment sorry!

Thanks for your comment. I can’t realize how long a 2000 word essay is, but now I totally agree with you, it’s not too long and I have to narrow my focus a bit. As I mentioned before in my comments to Abi’s posts, I am confused about this issue and want to go deeper, but for this Unit 1.2 essay, I’ll probably choose a more specific question (or two) and go that way. There are several options, so I’d really appreciate any suggestions.

I was really enjoying your introduction! What sort of things were you planning on discussing after that section? There is always the argument of “style over substance” which is what you were commenting on, yet I see this idea of being a socially responsible designer being important to yourself.

I guess it’s like the question “if a cigarette company wanted you to design and advertise its brand for a large sum of money, knowing its implications on the public, would you do it?”, if designers were that morally correct then there wouldn’t be such advertising. There are designers who smoke but would not do such a project, shouldn’t designers “practice what they preach”? If an environmentally friendly awareness company had workers who drove Land Rovers does that mean the company’s ethos is just a bunch of lies? Is that worse than the smoking designer? As you mentioned the First Things First Manifesto, sometimes can designers really be that subjective to the work they receive?

What sort of options were you thinking for this essay? It is definitely an interesting and controversial subject!

yes it does seem like a large subject as Jeff mentioned! You could almost just write an essay on what makes good design and why people are attracted to beautiful design!

On the social issues you bring to us. This is a very interesting and challenging topic, only because there are a lot of arguments you can discuss and bring to light, but I’m not sure if you will actually come to any conclusion. I mean, if the great graphic designers haven’t listened to the manifesto or thought of a conclusive way to improve the consumer environment we live in, then it is obviously is a very tricky issue! … obviously.

A lot of the issues you raise, because they are based on the arguments from the discourses, I think we’ve discussed earlier in the blog so most of the questions you bring up at the end, have been looked at, so hopefully will be helpful to you! (and I know you have commented on them, I will try to comment back!).

Personally, I like the suggestion in “Cultural Agents” where he says that a company should slowly output at least one pro-bono environmental/ social project every so often, gradually building up audience awareness that way.

I like Jeff’s suggestions above in the “environmentalism double standards” approach. If you are still stuck on direction, have you thought about linking in a subject area to do with what you want to do for your MPP?

Hi can,
Ok, first of all, I was sure you would Decide to deal a tricky, psychological problem related to our profession, for this reason you find my interest.

I usually spend lots of time interrogating myself about every shades are beyond our decisions in terms of design. Your topic covers a large range of questions but, you could be more specific just asking to yourself why you thought that? Are you scare to arrive to a situation like that?

I want to tell you one thing happened to me in italy with two clients..

A friend of mine is my barber since I was 16 years old.. he has worked for 7 years in this big hair-style shop with over 10 workers and three big owners. After this experience he decided to leave that place to start working on his own ( even why he had a quite big amount of personal clients ).

The year before he left his chiefs and him, according to an idea of him, asked by for a photo-book with album, and many stuff for communication.. after some periods of indecisions his owners weren’t convinced to do it (still now I don’t understand why, probably because I was really young and they didn’t trust me).

He left and we realised this album on our own into his new shop with all his new clients. I was happy because we had forgot his greedy old chiefs. But, as always, something changed. I started working for an agency based in the same city of the big old hair-style shop three months before get my BA degree. I was looking for a theme to develop for my final project and my chief told me “we have just taken a new client, really big, really rich, and we can give you the opportunity to develop you BA final project working on this client” I was really happy.. I mean, manage a whole Advertising campaign was one of my dreams and so I accepted.

The day they presented me the client I was petrified.. they were the same greedy old chiefs of my friends!!!! It was too late to decline the offer and so I had to work for them, and mainly I couldn’t do a bad work for two reason: it was my final project for my degree, it was my first work in that agency and I cared too much to be kept after my internship period.

what happened? I designed for them a 5000 € campaign who brought them to gain +1000€ every month more.. a really success, the clients were so satisfied and my chiefs as well ( they decided to keep me working for them ).

My friend obviously didn’t take it happily.. but he understood.. I just obeyed to the orders of my agency.. so it was fine..

the year later my friend ask me to develop another book.. and I put all of my best skills for him.. and the result was amazing.. in the same time his old Chiefs called my agency and I to organize an event for them.. in short, I was, and actually I am working for both the two shops.

the situations is not good because my friend told me “ok, if you continue to work for them, with me you have finished..”

for me is really a huge problem because:
-the old owners give me more money but less creative expression
-my friend gives me less money but 100% free creative expression

really tricky situation..

you should expect an answer after all this discourse.. instead.. I haven’t!!! I am still in the middle.. waiting for something happens.. but at the same time hope you find it in some way useful for your research.. eheeh I mean, it is a concrete case of the situations you want to analyze!!!

Again, if u are looking for inspiration about it, have a look of Rhetoric text, on the first page of Hanno Ehses article.. second column down… there is a piece where he speaks about this problem..